michael mina

san francisco, ca

website

derek is very good at thinking ahead and making reservations. when he found out that cindy was coming for a weekend visit, he immediately made reservations at michael mina - highly rated, has one michelin star. a had been there before, so we followed his lead and ordered a la carte. cindy, a+ma, and derek split two orders of the tuna tartare (which was very good), but i had to be an uni-snob and order the uni pasta off of the tasting menu (pictured). the uni was incredible, the rest of the pasta was pretty good as well.

my entree, highly recommended by the waiter, was the "japanese inspired whole dungeness crab" served with ramen. some of the crab was tempura-fried and the rest of the crab was poached in miso-butter. the poached crab was amazing, served with an incredible sauce. the ramen was disappointing - tasted like overcooked instant ramen in a bland broth. the highlight of the meal, however, might have been the bread served on the side - ridiculously good. grilled, buttered sourdough bread served with a little pot of (what i assume must be) fresh ricotta topped with a layer of honey. after you finish one slice of bread, they bring you another slice and another pot of ricotta, so feel free to go crazy with the ricotta. overall, it was a quality fine-dining experience, just don't get the ramen.